Sonic Underground, Episode 1.23: Hedgehog in the Iron Mask

Sonic Underground, Episode 1.23: Hedgehog in the Iron Mask

Original Air Date: September 29th, 1999

Sonic, Sonia, and Manic receive a hint that their mother might have been imprisoned in a foreboding tower under a perpetual storm cloud. They hope to find some records of her location inside. Instead, they find Sleet and Dingo and hear the cries of a prisoner. Dingo lets it slip that the prisoner is someone important. The trio return later to free the mysterious hedgehog, who wears a mask that will explode if it's removed. He claims to be their uncle, who was imprisoned when Queen Alena came to power because only one monarch can rule. This information soon forces a schism between the siblings...  But it's all been a trap set-up by Robotnik. 

At least conceptually, "The Hedgehog in the Iron Mask" is one of the better "Sonic Underground" premises. The set-up attempts to mine tension not from an outside antagonistic force but from within the group. If there's anything that will break up a group of tightly knit siblings, it's squabbling over royal problem. Sonic, Manic, and Sonia turning on each other is a lot more compelling idea than them facing off with the easily defeated Sleet and Dingo again... 

But in execution, this idea is far from satisfying. The triplets bicker but they always stick together, so them going their separate ways because of some random guy is not convincing. Further hindering things is how obvious it is that their "uncle" is part of a trap. None of our heroes question why their mother, always depicted as utterly benevolent, would lock up her brother. Even the normally suspicious Manic buys his story immediately. They never question his story, whether his blinking mask could be a spy camera or the rings he gives them could be trackers. It's obvious to the audience that this guy is fishy and it would be even if the script didn't reveal early on that Robotnik is plotting something. 

Then again, maybe our hedgehogs are simply having an off-day. They also walk up to big orange items several times, even though they should know by now that big orange Dingo maintains his coloration when turned into mundane objects. (Dingo's "disguises" this time include a statue of the Queen but the episode cuts away, robbing us of the truly bizarre image of Sonia being man-handled by a giant, orange version of her mom.) These are all examples of how half-baked Bob Forward's script is. This also includes the groan-worthy reveal that the hedgehog in the iron mask is a famous actor named "Luke Periwinkle." Or the storm clouds over the tower, which go totally unexplained and vanish after it collapses. 

The dumb, lazy writing is also evident in the truly underwhelming action scenes. Once again, I must emphasize how much these SWATBots suck. While pursuing Sonic into an auto shop, they stand perfectly still atop a pneumatic lift so Sonic can elevate them right up into the ceiling. Later, they don't move again while standing in a straight line down a winding staircase. When Sonic slices through one bot's ankles, he falls over and causes a domino effect. Robotnik really didn't program these guys with the ability to... move? To cap it off, Manic once again smashes a SWATBot's head with his flimsy drumsticks. Also, the trio later defeat Sleet and Dingo with a sheet. The fact that this is the army that took over the world is really starting to push credibility. 

But why should we expect a sensible plot or compelling action scenes from a show that sucks as consistently as "Sonic Underground?" Look at Luke Periwinkle's character design. He's two feet taller than Sonic, Sonia, and Manic. He has a generally humanoid built, not a cartoon hedgehog one. The only indication he's a hedgehog at all are the tiny spines extending from his head. His cyan – not periwinkle – fur color is deeply unappealing. It's another totally hideous "Underground" character design. Later, there's a hilarious moment of terrible animation, where the triplets and Periwinkle leap over a SWATBot's head without moving their bodies, the group effortlessly floating through the air. Nobody gave a shit if this cartoon was good or not.

The only thing this episode has going for it is one of the show's more tolerable songs. "Part of the Problem" features Sonia, who has the least annoying singing voice of the triplets, on lead vocals. She's matched, once again, with quasi-New Wave sounding music, a style the show's musicians were clearly more comfortable with. The song's hook features slightly less awkward lyrics than usual. It helps that the song's premise, scolding people who refuse to join the Resistance by saying they're "part of the problem," is a little edgier than the show's subject matter usually is. (The song also occurs five minutes into the episode, at a point in the story where it actually makes sense for the heroes to be singing.) It sounds a little bit like Oingo Boingo. If this came on Sirius XM First Wave, I wouldn't immediately change the station. 

The song proves to be the sole bright spot of an otherwise dreadful episode.... Which isn't saying a lot, as even a better "Sonic Underground" musical number is mediocre by any other standard. [4/10]

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.39: Tails Prevails

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.39: Tails Prevails

Original Air Date: October 29th, 1993

This is my thirty-fourth or fifth review of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog." Which means I am officially at the half-way point. Yes, it only took me about ten months to get here. I guess that is what happens when you take most of s year off. But it's okay, as I'm now zipping through these reviews at not-quite-Sonic speed. Hopefully, I'll be done with this tedious project and moving onto the next tedious "Sonic" related project in no time at all. Surely, my spirit won't break now, will it?

"Tails Prevails" occurs on the eve of a rarely acknowledged annual occurrence: Sonic's birthday. Feeling like he has to buy his best buddy a special gift, he decides to get a few odd jobs. This doesn't quite work out, so he instead heads to the local junkyard and builds Sonic a flying hover bike. As you do. Tails' sudden display of mechanical know-how draws the attention of two eccentric inventors: Professor Von Schlemmer and Robotnik. The evil doctor impersonates the good (I guess) professor and tricks Tails into building a Sonic-smashing machine. 

I recently learned that Sega's official stance is that money doesn't exist in the "Sonic"-world, which makes no fucking sense and directly contradicts previous "Sonic" games. Sega just likes to make up arbitrarily, dumb-ass rules and then change their minds again when nobody is looking! But money definitely exists in the world of "AoStH" and, in "Tails Prevails," Tails learns that having to earn it sucks. He attempts to leaf-blow leaves out of yards by spinning his propeller tails, but accidentally creates a tornado instead. (A sequence that features Tails saying he has to "blow them harder," before he shouts "Faster!" and "I can't stop!" Did the "PINGAS!" people ever watch this episode?) Later, he attempts to make it as a paper boy but smashes some windows instead. It's true, Tails: having a job, and having to answer to a boss, both sucks and blows. 

These relatively mundane sequences of Tails being a cog in the crushing machine of capitalism – which even features cute Tails-centric scene transition – stand in contrast to how surreal the rest of the episode is. The setting for the majority of "Tails Prevails" is Sky City. That would be a community who live inside giant square cities that float in the sky and are connected by various ladders and shoots. That alone is an unusual sight but the residents of Sky City are even stranger. During the scenes where Tails is working, we see funny animal people living there. Directly after the newspaper delivery scene, a group of bizarre aliens exit the homes. Later, when Sonic's birthday party is interrupted by air-propelled chattering teeth, we see cartoony humans gathering. I guess the "AoStH" version of Mobius truly is a multicultural society, where all sorts of hideous cartoon creatures co-exist together. 

What makes this episode even more unusual is that it features several elements from the "Sonic" video games... Years before they became standard parts of the franchise! Sky City vaguely resembles the Sky Sanctuary stage from "Sonic & Knuckles," in that both are floating structures up in the sky. (It's also a little like the Sky Chase/Flying Fortress part of "Sonic 2," though even more vaguely.) While Tails being a tinkerer and inventor has always been a low-key part of his personality, it didn't become prominent until the "Sonic Adventure" era. Considering both the cartoon and the comic characterized Tails mostly as Sonic's sidekick during this time, I'm willing to bet that this is a complete coincidence. 

Even this is not the strangest thing about "Tails Prevails." No, what's most unusual about episode is that it's... Pretty good? There's three jokes here that genuinely made me laugh out loud. In the first scene, Tails says there's three days before Sonic's birthday, right before the sun promptly sets, causing him to revise his statement to two days. While infiltrating Robotnik's lab at the end, Sonic sneaks in through a pipe... Before exiting a bathroom, covered in green slime. He then looks directly at the audience and refuses to elaborate. It's rare to see this show make Sonic the butt of the joke like that. Lastly, while Sonic and Robotnik are fighting in their various flying machines, Robotnik shoots some laser guns. Sonic then makes finger guns and successfully shoots his own lasers. That's the kind of unexpected, freewheeling absurdity this show really needed more of. 

While random pop culture references are nothing unusual for this series, this episode features three that caught me off-guard. Sonic piloting his hover-bike through the tunnels of Sky City is sort of reminiscent of "Star Wars," which becomes more explicit when Robotnik quotes Darth Vader. (That flying scene is also pretty well animated for this show.) Later, Tails parrots "Star Trek's" Scotty, about how he's "giving' it all she's got, Cap'n!" And while I'm not certain if this is intentional, a moment where the characters are shouting each other's names reminded me of one of my favorite jokes from "Rocky Horror Picture Show." 

Even stranger yet, Von Schlemmer shows up in this episode and it didn't immediately make it worst! In fact, Von Schlemmer is fairly inoffensive in this episode and the scene where Robotnik disguises himself as the professor simply by taking a photo of him is even sort of amusingly random. Also, Scratch and Grounder immediately recognize Sonic in one of his disguises here, another unexpected event. Am I just developing Stockholm Syndrome after watching over thirty of these things or did Bob Forward actually bring his A-game when writing this one? (There's also less Scratch and Grounder in this episode than usual, which probably didn't hurt.)

I'm not sure how to answer that question yet but something is clear: "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's" constant, aggressive wackiness works a lot better when it's contrasted with some mundane elements. Which is the real reason, I think, why "Tails Prevails" made me laugh. I guess Sonic and his pals should've gotten mundane, boring jobs. [7/10]

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 4.41: Attack on Pinball Fortress

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 4.41: Attack on Pinball Fortress

Original Air Date: October 14th, 1993

An odd quirk of Sonic's early years, in North America anyway, was that the spin-off games were sometimes just as promoted, if not more so, than the mainline "Sonic" video games produced by Sonic Team. "Sonic 1" and 2 wouldn't receive adaptations in the American comic until two full decades later. "Sonic 3" was adapted but it wasn't treated as a special issue. It would take Archie a while to capitalize on Knuckles' fandom popularity, while the echidna wouldn't appear in an American cartoon for several more years. Meanwhile, Archie would give side titles like "Triple Trouble" or "3-D Blast" stand alone adaptations. "3-D Blast" would be referenced by the American Christmas special and even the ultimately unfinished "Sonic X-Treme" would receive a number of tie-ins.

"Sonic Spinball" was especially heavily-promoted in the states. Archie heavily trumpeted the connection in the comic. An episode of "SatAM" would prominently feature pinball and was itself adapted from a short "Sonic" novel with the same premise. "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" would also adapt "Spinball," with the episode "Attack on Pinball Fortess," which aired the October before the game's stateside release. It's easy to figure out why this is so: "Spinball" was designed by Sega's American branch and was, like the whole franchise at the time, specifically made to appeal to American sensibilities. But it does look odd in retrospect, now that Sega keeps a much tighter leash on "Sonic" tie-in media.

"Spinball" was also one of the more heavily plotted "Sonic" games at the time, with cut scenes and explicit references to both "SatAM" and "AoStH." And the cartoon pretty much threw all of that out. Robotnik has built a new device, the Stupidity Ray, which renders anyone zapped with it a drooling moron. Sgt. Doberman and Wes Weasly both foresee this device as valuable to their own goals. They plot to steal it but Sonic destroys the original. Robotnik goes about building a giant Stupidity Ray from within his Pinball Fortress. Doberman and Wes tag along with Sonic as he breaks in to destroy the device before Robotnik zaps the whole globe with it. 

As you might've realized from that plot synopsis, "Attack on Pinball Fortress" is the vaguest of adaptations of the video game. No mention is made of the Veg-O-Fortress or Rexxon. A robotic scorpion named Boss Scorpion -- presumably inspired by Scorpius, the game's level one boss -- shows up briefly. There's some lava in one scene, sort of like the second stage, and an easily missed mention of the Toxic Caves. There's only one scene featuring pinball-like traps and it's nothing like the pinball elements in the actual game. No explanation is provided for why Robotnik has a pinball-themed fortress either. It seems likely to me that writer Bob Forward was told the general gist of the game, shown some production artwork, and riffed from there. 

The Stupidity Ray is, in fact, the focus for far more of the episode. And if you think "AoStH's" regular humor is pretty stupid and shrill, a stupidity-causing ray gun allows things to go into high gear. A potential customer of Wes' – who has a very disturbing face – is turned into a blabbering loony by the ray. Robotnik, when he is inevitably blasted with it at the end of the episode, is reduced to a blubbering doofus. In-between this one and the baby episode, poor Long John Baldry had to simper like a nincompoop a lot for this show. About the only actual humor derived from the Stupidity Ray is when Scratch gets zapped by it... And is completely unaffected, as he can't get any dumber. That's a solid gag. (The weapon also leads to a hilarious "Sonic Sez" segment where the hedgehog actually tells kids to stay in school, but that's a laugh of the decidedly unintentional variety.)

What's most interesting about the Stupidity Ray is the very unusual subtext it cooks into the episode. Sgt. Doberman previously only appeared as a one-off gag character in "Tails' New Home" but the show brought him back seemingly to mock the military. The Stupidity Ray doesn't turn Doberman's recruits into Pauly Shore-ian dumbasses. Instead, it turns them into ideal soldiers. Doberman is willing to resort to theft and treachery in order to retrieve the Ray. Did... did this show just call all soldiers idiots? And made its sole prominent military man an oft-mocked villain? A kids show inserting a message like that today would be controversial. I'm assuming "AoStH" only got away with it because nobody was watching that closely. 

In fact, I'm going to assume some things about Bob Forward's political beliefs, as this episode also has a roundabout anti-capitalism message. Wes Weasly is, of course, not much more than a con artist. His default mode is already sneaky and underhanded. He sees the Stupidity Ray as a way to fleece people even more easily. Both Wes and Doberman betray each other at a moment's notice and are repeatedly mocked. So Mr. Forward is saying that the military makes you stupid and businessmen just want to steal from you. And, if you want to be cool like Sonic, you need to act outside both systems and take direct action against evil. Fuck yeah.

I wish the episode itself was less painfully unfunny, because I really want to give this one a full endorsement. It's a shame the comedy is so inane, the animation so ugly, and the story so dumb. Oh well. At least I can cherry-pick this episode next time I want to make the argument that Sonic is a radical, left-wing hero. [5/10]

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.07: Trail of the Missing Tails

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.07: Trail of the Missing Tails

Original Air Date: October 1st, 1993

Strap in, cause here's another dose of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" with enough premises for two or three episodes. After Tails is almost caught in an especially slapstick-heavy trap set by the usual trio of Badniks, Sonic gives the young fox a stern lecture. When he awakes the next day, he finds that Tails is gone. At first, he assumes Robotnik is responsible but he's not. Turns out, Tails was captured by Doctor Warpnik, Robotnik's deranged cousin that was banished to a surreal pocket dimension called the Warp of Confusion. Sonic tracks the nutcase to this alternate realm. Robotnik and his robot goons follow, in hopes of settling the rivalry with his cousin.

Recent episodes I've reviewed revolve around Robotnik having relatives or rivals. "Trail of the Missing Tails" combines both of these ideas. I'd accuse the "AoStH" writers of ripping themselves off but this episode was produced before either of those other two. Anyway, yes, Warpnik is Robotnik's crazier cousin and also an evil scientist. Mobius is just crawling with those guys. This doesn't really make Warpnik that different from the other Annoying Guest Characters of the Day. His appearance is grotesque: Pink face, massive overbite, disembodied toupee, hulking shoulders, half-dangling latex gloves, vaguely racist slanted eyes. His voice is extremely grating. His personality, which takes the wackiness up to eleven, is overbearing. He's not as disgusting as Von Schlemmer but is definitely cut from the same mold. 

In addition to his wacky insanity, Warpnik's other gimmick is a creepy, Troy McClure-esque obsession with fish. He likes to slap people with fish, turn people into fish, and fills the Warp of Confusion with giant, floating fish. Apparently, the Warp was inspired by the special zones from the first game. Which suggests the writers played the Special Zone for all of two seconds – which is probably true – as fish are but one psychedelic image that appears in that stage. Truthfully, the Warp resembles the Special Stage in no way. Instead, it's another baffling, colorful, bizarre landscape for the show to pepper increasingly odd images.

Also, what is it with Robotnik and throwing other people into dimensions? He obviously did that to King Acorn in “SatAM.” The Archie comic followed that show's lead, revealing that Robotnik tossed even more folks into the Zone of Silence or the Void or the Twilight Cage or some other dimension I've forgotten about. Considering “SatAM” was in production slightly after “AoStH,” it's entirely possible this episode might've influenced that show. I guess the real reason Robotnik is so fond of exiling enemies, across all “Sonic” media,” is because this is a G-rated kids franchise and we can't have the bad guy just going around killing folks. Anyway, this was a digression. 

"Trail of the Missing Tails" is saved from being as aggressively annoying and mind-meltingly weird as "Boogey-Mania" by including an actual character arc for Sonic and Tails. In another recent review, I pointed out how I liked it when Sonic and Tails had a minor conflict. (Again, “So Long Suckers” was also produced after this one.) This episode sort of features that theme too. After almost getting himself crushed in the opening trap, Sonic chastises Tails for not being more careful. When his sidekick disappears, Sonic fears he went too far and scared the kids off. Once again, the show zeroes in on the hedgehog's mentor-like relationship to his buddy. Wondering if you've gone too far when disciplining a kid is a common fear for adults. Even if it all ends up being okay, Sonic and Tails talking it out with a few lines of dialogue, it's nice to see the show actually care about its characters' personalities for once.

Mostly, my main thoughts while watching this episode is how bad life must suck for Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts. This episode especially piles abuse on them. They have their own trap deployed on them, resulting in several heavy objects falling on their head in a sequence followed by a big explosion. This then happens a second time a few minutes later. Not long afterwards, they drop down onto the ground atop each other. Even later, Sonic rams them so hard they turn into bowling pins. These three are constantly belittled, punished, destroyed, and reassembled just so they can do it all over again the next day. 

No wonder when Warpnik accidentally zaps them with one of his ray guns, turning them into giant monsters, they immediately decide to take revenge on Robotnik. If this was a better, sturdier show, that could've become an on-going plot point. Or, at the very least, the show could've utilized the cool mutated designs of the three robots more. Coconuts turns into a tusked gorilla form, Scratch becomes a dragon-like huge bird, and Grounder gets a robust robot body. Since “AoStH” is the show it is, this lasts for a few minutes and things get back to normal. But Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts eventually getting revenge on their abusive creator could've made for a cool episode.

I guess I would rank this as an episode that had a lot of potential but is, typically, not utilized. It's mostly just stupid, weird, and annoying. However, once again, I question why Ian Flynn didn't dig into this episode a little when he was raiding “Adventures” for reboot material. The Warp of Confusion could've been a replacement for the Zone of Silence. Even Warpnik could've been rehabilitated into something interesting. Alas. Also, the “Sonic Says” segment tells kids to memorize their phone numbers, a moral that has been rendered useless by cellphones. Because time is a ceaseless march towards oblivion. [5/10]

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.26: Submerged Sonic

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.26: Submerged Sonic
Original Air Date: September 9th, 1993

Much like “SatAM,” “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's” relationship with the actual Sega video games it was created to promote was marginal, at best. “SatAM” really took nothing but Sonic, Robotnik, and the Power Rings, while adapting stray elements from the games in an extremely loose manner. “Adventures” wasn't much different in that regard but would, occasionally, make the connection a little more explicit. In “Submerged Sonic,” the 26th episode to be produced and the fourth to air, the cast visits the underwater kingdom of Labyrinth. To make this connection to the first game's Labyrinth Zone more obvious, the Jaws badniks put in a brief appearance in this episode.

That's about it, as far as “Submerged Sonic's” connection to the game goes. Here's the plot: In the underwater kingdom of Labyrinth, King Saline is disappointed with his mermaid daughter, Bubbles. She has fallen in love with surfer dude merman Surff and wishes to marry him. The king is so incensed, he throws both of them out of the domed city. At the same time, Robotnik attacks Labyrinth with his brand new submarine, determined to steal the kingdom's supply of Power Pearls. That would be pearls with explosive properties. After Bubbles is kidnapped, Surff floats to the surface and recruits Sonic and Tails to help.

The main issue facing “Submerged Sonic” as an episode is this: The merfolk are largely terrible. King Saline is a blustering, overprotective dad whose temper is out of control. Bubbles is a flighty and empty-headed girl without much in the way of an actual personality. Surff, meanwhile, is extremely annoying. His unappealing visual design – sickly green skin and a bright orange pompadour – is paired with the dopiest surfer dude dialogue you could imagine. Even Sonic seems deeply annoyed by the guy, especially during a moment when he almost blows up their submarine with those aforementioned Power Pearls. The episode's best joke, if it was even intended as a joke, has Sonic trying to discourage Tails from accepting the guy's request for help. (Also, this is the second episode where Sonic and Tails help some random stranger out with their romantic problems. It's weird that is becoming a reoccurring theme so early on in this show.)

Truthfully, humor does not seem to be the primary goal with “Submerged Sonic.” Yeah, there's lots of jokes but they are of the most uninspired slapstick. Sonic and friends get comically squished against a wall when tossed in the prison. Sonic squashes their guard when he kicks down the door. King Saline gets shocked in the ass with his own lightning bolts. If anything, the action/adventure plot seems to take precedence this time, even if that ridiculous cartoon logic is maintained through. Our heroes spend a good chunk of the episode being chased by Robotnik's submarine. The big climax involves Sonic fighting – and swimming, once again disproving the title of my blog – a giant robotic sting ray.

You see this episode's shift towards more action/adventure plotting in a scene where Robotnik attempts to intimidate the King. In this single scene, while holding the Princess hostage and threatening to torpedo Labyrinth, Robotnik actually seems like an effective villain. This makes the rest of the episode, where Robotnik and his minions are subjected to some super lame slapstick, all the more disappointing. Scratch and Grounder's antics – confusion over the meaning of the word “fire,” accidentally smacking Robotnik with a stick, rowing in opposite directions while being in the same raft – are truly tiresome this time. The only joke here I like, of Grounder begging the doctor to let him destroy the city, does not feature any physical comedy.

Why it isn't always the case, the Sonic Says segment this time ties into the rest of the episode. Surff attempts to dive into a lake off a cliff, only for Sonic to stop him. This leads to a warning about not diving into shallow water. (And also continues to make Surff look like the biggest fucking idiot in the world.) Sonic makes sure to point out that, while such an action wouldn't hurt a cartoon character, a real person wouldn't be so lucky. It's less cringe-inducing than previous segments devoted to not believing what you see on TV or not running away from home. But Sonic sure isn't the Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water, alright?

Also, this episode features Sonic and Tails doing dishes together in one scene. Which pushes their friendship in a very domestic direction, raising a lot of hilarious questions in the process. Over all, “Submerged Sonic” is kind of a weird episode in that it's a little more story-driven and less madcap than “Adventures” has been up to this point. Sonic doesn't even put on a disguise this time! Yet it's still full of annoying characters and less-than-inspired gags. So, if this was an attempt to maybe redirect the series' tone a little, it wasn't very successful. [5/10]